


A Moment of Truth

by deedeeinfj



Category: Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-25
Updated: 2015-08-25
Packaged: 2018-04-17 05:51:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 653
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4654839
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deedeeinfj/pseuds/deedeeinfj
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Silence hovered between them, and then Phryne murmured, "Oh, darling. You thought I was the one killed." (AU/what-if ficlet for "Blood at the Wheel")</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Moment of Truth

**Author's Note:**

> So this is kind of a weird little ficlet... sorry about that. It takes place during "Blood at the Wheel" with one tiny change: Hugh leaves Jack alone at the car. Just a what-if, I guess.

"A moment, Collins, if you will," said Jack.

The young constable looked blank - perhaps he was as much in shock as Jack himself was - but he obeyed and wandered away until he was out of sight.

Jack removed his hat and set it on the car. " _Goddammit_ , Phryne," he said, hardly recognizing the sound of his own voice, as he reached for the cloth that covered her head.

"Jack?"

That was her precious, maddening voice, but how...?

He looked up to see her making her way towards him from the trees.

"Phryne," he whispered. It was the only thing he could say.

"Jack, what on earth is the matter? You look--"

He was not going to learn what he looked like because he took her in his arms and stopped her mouth with a hard kiss. Her body was stiff with surprise, but only for a moment; he felt more of her weight in the arms he had clasped around her waist, and her body exerted a soft pressure against his as she sank into him. One of her hands cupped his jaw while the other slid around his neck. He had caught her off guard, but she was returning his kiss eagerly and passionately.

When he finally broke away from her, breathless, her eyes were almost comically wide. "Jack, that was -- what are you -- tell me what happened." Her hand still rested on his face, and she stroked her thumb gently over his skin before letting it fall to her side.

He glanced at the covered body in the car. "I thought..." He swallowed hard. "The call was unclear, and I thought..."

Silence hovered between them, and then Phryne murmured, "Oh, darling. You thought I was the one killed."

"Yes," he replied, his voice no stronger than a whisper. He raked a still-shaking hand through his hair. "I thought I had lost you, and I found it unbearable. Even knowing now that you're safe, the idea of it..."

"Come inside with me," she said with exaggerated brightness, reaching for him. "A drink will set you to rights in no time."

"Phryne, I love you."

Another silence, this one longer than the last.

"I can't be the woman you want me to be," she said.

"I don't want you to be anything but what you are."

She stepped closer to him and caressed the line of his jaw with her fingers. "My dear Jack," she said. He had never heard such tenderness in her voice. "You are precious - so precious - to me. But there are certain things that I can't say or promise to anyone ever again. You want more than that. I know you do. You deserve more than that."

"So do you," he said.

With her hand, she lowered his head back down to hers, whispering his name before pressing her lips to his again. It wasn't desperate like before. For a woman who claimed to be unable to love him, she kissed him as though she did, he thought.

"I care about you more than any other man," she told him, her lips still brushing his. "And you must know how I have wanted you. But can that be enough? Do you want me?"

"Yes. Whatever you will give me."

"My friendship?"

"Yes.

"My kisses?"

"All of them."

Her thumb traced his lips. "Do you want to make love to me, Jack?"

"Yes."

"I want those things, too," she said. "I want them for as long as you'll let me have them. But I need your friendship, our partnership, always, or I would feel as if you had died in that car."

Jack took a step back from her and reached for his pencil and notes. "In that case, since we are both standing here alive and well, Miss Fisher, tell me what you know about this unfortunate woman."

She smiled, readjusted her clothing and hair, and did just that.


End file.
